Believe Like Mary

Mary was blessed because she believed God would keep His word...Stay the course. Keep the faith. Endure. Now go sell something.From today’s reading…

The #1 attribute all great salespeople have is great empathy. Empathy is the ability to see things from the perspective of the prospect, i.e., you know what it’s like to walk a mile in their shoes.

When the prospect feels heard, seen, understood…they more readily accept the recommendation of the salesperson.

Now imagine for a moment Mary, the Mother of God, 2022 years ago: an unwed teen in a nation governed by an occupying force but run by religious zealots who would have stoned her to death if they learned of her situation, yet she placed all of her trust in God.

Sit with that for a minute.

Two minutes after you post your “Faith Over Fear” profile banner, you’re sharing how sad, lost, lonely, confused…and afraid you are with “everything going on in the world” and “all the uncertainty.”

You’re afraid to speak your mind from the comfort and safety of your own home, so you sure as hell ain’t marching, protesting, or otherwise confronting the forces of evil in our own government, our schools, our churches, and our communities.

Your government is lying to you.

Your pastor is lying to you.

Your school board is lying to you.

Big Pharma is lying to you.

Your doctor is either not allowed to tell you the truth or he’s so ate up with groupthink that he thinks he’s telling the truth, but he’s lying to you.

Zuckerberg is lying to you.

Jack Dorsey is lying to you.

Your friends mean well, but they can’t find their asses with both hands, so they’re at least giving you bad advice, and at worst, they’re lying to you.

Hollywood is lying to you.

ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/MSNBC/FoxNews are all lying to you.

The NY Times is lying to you.

The White House press secretary is lying to you.

Planned Parenthood is lying to you.

Yet here you sit. Telling yourself you’re a believer…a patriot…a seeker of truth…a speaker of truth…a warrior (”I am the storm!” HA!)

In today’s reading from Luke 1, we read in verse 41 that THE CHILD, not a lump of cells or an unviable tissue mass or a fetus or a turtle or a unicorn, A CHILD leapt in the womb of Elizabeth when she and her child, John, were greeted by Mary, who was carrying her child, Jesus, in her womb.

Sit with that today. Pray on it.

Why does it matter that Elizabeth was barren?

Why does it matter that Mary was a virgin?

Why did our ancestors 2,000 years ago know that a woman carried a human child in her womb, yet we deny that? (Hint: follow the money.)

Why did God choose a “nobody” to be His mother?

Why didn’t He choose a powerful queen or an aristocrat or a Centurion’s wife to be His mother?

How much courage, trust, and faith did it take Mary to accept God’s plan?

Why do you hold such disdain for the Mother of God?

Why can’t you even acknowledge her as such?

I told you: you’ve been lied to. It’s time you opened your heart like Mary and placed all of your trust in God and His plan for you, which is the only way to…

Stay the course.Keep the faith.Endure.

Market like you mean it. Now go sell something.